Monday
TAugust 15, 2005
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ARTS
UNDERCOVER
BROTHERS t
JOHN SINGLETON RETURNS WITH WILD
BLEND OF FAMILY DRAMA, ACTION
By Imran Syed
Daily Arts Writer
FILM REVIEW *
Two major films in less than a month
shot in Detroit? It's Kwame's dream come
true: Detroit has become
an Adonis among major Four
urban-decay filming loca- Brothers
tions (beating out Newark,
Chicago's south side and, At the Showcase
of course, hell). The lat- and Quality 16
est film shot there, "Four Paramount
Brothers," is a little dif-
ferent from "The Island" though. This one's
actually set in Detroit too - and proud of
it. Elegant, panoramic views of Detroit land-
marks such as the abandoned Amtrak station
and boarded-up buildings are strategically
sprinkled throughout the film. Every three
to five seconds a character will remind you
where you are with eloquent catchphrases
such as "This is Detroit, in case ya'll forgot,"
which carries a certain irony, because not for
a moment does the film let us forget it. But
despite its predictability and a failed attempt
at rogue coolness, John Singleton's urban
crime drama is exciting, combative and
boasts a reasonably interesting storyline.
What is this storyline you ask? Take four
bad-to-the-bone hoodlums from the streets
and mix in one Mother Teresa of the ghetto
looking to give them a second chance. Throw
in a few crooked cops and a crumbling city
controlled by thugs, and you get the picture.
But bad guys go after the nice old lady; her
"sons" get pissed and want revenge. The
four sons: Bobby, Angel, Jeremiah and Jack,
played by Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson
("Flight of the Phoenix"), Andre Benjamin
("Be Cool") and Garrett Hedlund ("Friday
Night Lights"), respectively.
The film's basic premise - utter brutality
in the name of avenging the saint of a com-
munity - is not only unbelievable but also a
little pathetic. The film gets itself in trouble
while attempting to address morals; if the old
woman would have forgiven her murderers,
shouldn't her sons do the same? Apparently
not, and though this is a definite blow to the
film's sense of logic, it makes up for it with a
Ben Wallace slam-dunk on the action.
While attempting to hunt down their old mum's
killer, the four boys shoot up middle school gyms,
throw people out windows and play wicked pick-
up games of ice hockey before finally getting a
plan together. Though the film is too violent at
times, such scenes almost always remain centered
in the story or are immediately balanced out.
There are some sequences of excessive, pointless
shoot-outs, but most of the action sequences are
well grounded in the storyline and flow well.
In the lead role, a clean cut-looking Wahlberg
gets in touch with his former juvenile delinquent
and produces a complete character, rather than
the empty, gun-wielding clone we expect. Former
singer and Tommy Hilfiger model Gibson is prob-
ably the weakest of the four leads but certainly not
abysmal. Hedlund is perhaps the deepest, dark-
"Yo! It's about that time / to bring forth the rhythm and the rhyme."
est of the brothers and has certain murky things
in his past that are worse than jail, guns or drugs
(which all the brothers share). Though little of this
is actually shown, his character's behavior in his
most tense situation is downright creepy and even
tear-jerking. And OutKast's Benjamin sparkles in
his most important scene and is well-chosen as the
"good-guy" among the brothers.
Terrence Howard headlines the supporting
players and adds a strong turn as the good-cop-
amongst-corruption to his already impressive
winning streak this summer, following "Hustle
and Flow" and "Crash." Both of those films are
still in theaters and trump "Four Brothers" with
ease, but if you can overlook the slight tendency of
an occasional brain-cell ambush, the movie pro-
vides a passable action romp that sends a tough
summer season out on a high note.
i
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